Takedown
A Takedown is the action of forcing an opponent's vehicle to crash, by either smashing it into a wall, knocking it off the map boundaries, or by forcing it to collide with another vehicle. These other vehicles that the player can smash the opponents into include the usual traffic or into other opponents to destroy them as well. There are other special takedowns that can be performed by hitting an opponent in a certain way. All in all, takedowns have been the trademark of Criterion's racing series since Burnout 3: Takedown and during events provide large bonuses to the player's boost bar. Takedown or Wall Takedown A Wall Takedown has been featured in every Burnout Game since Burnout 3. To perform it, the player simply smashes a rival into a wall. This is the most basic takedown and is also the most common. In Burnout Paradise however, the 'Takedown into Opponent' mentioned above also falls under this category, and for some reason it is not put into a category of its own. To perform such a takedown, the player must smash a rival into another rival. At that point, which ever one of those opponents has the stronger car will survive while the weaker one is destroyed. Double, Triple or Multi-Takedown A Double Takedown occurs when the player successfully takes down two rivals at once, while taking down three rivals at once, which will count as Triple Takedown. The rarest takedown in the Burnout history is known as Multi- (or Total) Takedown, where the player successfully takes down four or more rivals at once, and this is the hardest technique to perform. This was introduced in Burnout 3: Takedown and then through Burnout Paradise, which now falls under its category. Revenge Takedown The Revenge Takedown has been included in every Burnout game since Burnout Takedown. If the player is taken down by a rival, the camera will move and then track the rival who just took the player out. The player can then pursue and must take down the rival that took him/her down to get a Revenge Takedown. Now, the Revenge Rival is slightly more aggressive (indicated by a red pumping arrow) and the player must be as aggressive as possible to take the rival down. Once this is done, the "Revenge Takedown!" message appears, meaning that the player has successfully taken out a Revenge Rival. In Burnout Dominator, the player can get taken down by a rival, but the camera does not track a rival who has taken him/her down. However, the arrow becomes red, letting the player know that it is the rival that took him/her down. If the player successfully took down a revenge rival, a message appears that the player has successfully taken down. This is practically the same message like in Burnout 3 (only the difference is the Crashbreaker). In Burnout Paradise, getting taken down by a rival will also cause the camera to pan a fleeing rival, allowing the player to seek revenge. If the player successfully takes down the rival that took him/her down earlier, the camera pans to a wrecked rival, and then the camera flashes three times to witness the devastating crash. In the XBOX 360 version of Burnout Revenge, and in Burnout Paradise, Online opponents who have taken the player down are noted by the game, and are pointed out at the start of a race. Both games also keep track of how many Takedowns each player has on each other. If one player gets the same amount of Takedowns on the rival as the rival has on the player, or if both players crash into each other and takedown each other at the same time, they are both determined "even". However, this doesn't necessarily mean the rivalry is over! Traffic Takedown Traffic Takedowns have been featured in every Burnout Game since Burnout 3. A Car, Van, or Bus Takedown can be performed by forcing an opponent's vehicle into a car, van], or bus respectively. However, this takedown does not work very well on heavier cars that aren't moving fast because they will simply swerve and miss. This takedown is most easily achieved at higher speeds, but the player must be careful not to crash into traffic as well. The best civilian vehicles to perform this takedown on are parked vehicles since their parked state makes them much harder to survive, and they have no chance of moving out of the way like moving traffic can. Traffic Check Takedown The Traffic Check Takedown has been featured in Burnout Revenge and Burnout Paradise. This is another special Takedown that involves traffic. In Burnout Paradise, the ability to perform this takedown depends mainly on the player's car's weight. The heavier the vehicle is, the more accessible this kind of takedown is. Traffic Check Takedowns, as the name would imply, are done by Traffic Checking a vehicle and making it hit a rival. Lighter vehicles cannot perform this because they have to be traveling at a much lower speed to safely traffic check. However, in Burnout Revenge, it is much easier to check vehicles. However, in Burnout Paradise, traffic checking requires an Aggression car (with 7 strength points or more) to ram small traffic vehicles into the path of rivals to execute a traffic check takedown. Grinding Takedown Grinding Takedowns have been featured in every Burnout Game since Burnout 3. They are performed by pinning an opponent's vehicle against a wall, railing, or other long flat road edge guard at high speed for a certain period of time. Forcing the car against the surface and trapping it there will eventually cause it to lose control, and thus the player will have achieved a Grinding Takedown. However easy and on the other hand dangerous this may sound, Grinding Takedowns can be easily avoided. The opponent (or player) that is being grinded can simply hit the brakes and pull away from the grind. This certainly will cause the vehicle to lose a great deal of speed, but it will help the driver escape certain destruction. Therefore, conversely, the player attempting this takedown needs to turn towards the surface that the opponent is being grinded into to avoid any such escape. Grinding Takedowns on AI opponents are easiest in Burnout Paradise, but can also be done on oppenents in all other games that feature takedowns in them. T-Bone Takedown The T-Bone Takedown is featured in Burnout Paradise. It is when the player rams an opponent's vehicle from either side. To perform this, while the player is driving his vehicle through a very wide street, he/she needs to turn his/her vehicle askew and drive straight into the side of an opponent. This can be extremely accessible through the 'P.I.T maneuver'. A P.I.T maneuver is when vehicle A positions a side of the front of the car next to the rear side of Vehicle B at high speed. At this point the vehicle A turns into the rear of Vehicle B causing it to begin the spin, Vehicle B then counter-steers to point the car straight ahead. Then Vehicle B pushes harder and spins Vehicle B. A P.I.T maneuver is best avoided if Vehicle B is heavier than Vehicle A rendering it impossible to push. Marked Man Hunter Civilians and Road Rage opponents are prone to doing this during those events to try and destroy the player, even when his/her car is the strongest (his/her car pretends to be the weakest among other cars, regardless of its superior strength). The pit maneuver is typically very dangerous in practicality but if done correctly are almost impossible to escape, regardless of any strong vehicle the player drives. T-Bone Takedowns are far more common in Paradise City compared to previous Burnout games due to the addition of a free roam through the city. Due to this freedom, besides the pit maneuver, another special kind of T-Bone Takedown is casually known as an 'intersection Takedown'. This is where two opponents meet at an intersection, and whoever is the first one there gets taken down. This kind of takedown happens completely out of chance, but it actually is somewhat common when people take different paths to the finish line or simply went another way in a Road Rage event. Vertical Takedown The Vertical Takedown has been in the series since Burnout Revenge, and has featured in every game since. This is done by landing on top of another opponent's vehicle. Since the player must be airborne to perform such a takedown, a Ramp (usually not a Split Ramp since those are too risky coming down) or a sloped road needs to be driven off of by the player's car in order to take off into the air. The player must then land his/her vehicle on the roof of a rival's car. This usually happens by chance, but it does require skill to get on the ramp and survive before then. During Road Rage and Marked Man events that are more focused on Takedowns, the AI vehicles seem to be more aggressive to the player as they are approaching a ramp. Therefore, one must be extremely careful as they are approaching it. The greatest chance of success is when the player is surrounded by opponents. At that point, falling on any of them will cause such a Takedown. Crashbreaker Takedown Introduced in Burnout Revenge and also featured in Burnout Dominator, the Crashbreaker Takedown is when the player uses a Crashbreaker to take down opponents. In Burnout Revenge, this could only be done in special Crashbreaker variations of certain events (Crashbreaker Races at Rank 5, Road Rages at Rank 6, Eliminators at 7, and GPs at 8). The Crashbreaker works just like it does in Crash Mode: The player detonates his vehicle in an explosion that destroys any nearby vehicles, including opponents. The amount of fuel in the Boost Meter determines how powerful the blast is, and if the player hits any rivals, they will fill up and extend the Boost Meter appropriately. In Burnout Revenge, the Crashbreaker Level (general Crashbreaker power) will apply in Crashbreaker events, meaning some cars are more desirable than others due to being equal in speed but having a higher Crashbreaker Level. However, if the explosion should miss and not hit any rivals, the Boost Meter will be empty when the player respawns back on the track, but it is possible to, if you have low or no Boost to use, Aftertouch on a rival, which fills the Boost Meter, and THEN use the Crashbreaker. In Burnout Dominator, the Crashbreaker Takedown can be performed in any event that has other racers in it. Any Crashbreaker Takedowns in both games are called Payback Takedowns, and if the player should be lucky enough to hit all the rivals on the track with one explosion, they will have achieved the rare Total Payback Takedown. In Dominator, and during Crashbreaker events in Revenge, a Crashbreaker Takedown often followed a failed Aftertouch Takedown attempt (see below), as the explosion would catch the rival who just passed the player's wreck. It's advisable though that the Crashbreaker be done "before" the rival passes the wreck; when they respawn they will appear ahead of the player. Aftertouch Takedown Aftertouch Takedowns have been in Burnout since Burnout 3, but have been omitted from Burnout Paradise. When a player has crashed his vehicle, whether by a Takedown or by hitting a vehicle or wall too hard, they can hold R1 (R for the PSP games) and activate Impact Time to slow the action down. In Impact Time, they player can alter the momentum of their wreck to move it into rivals attempting to pass. In Burnout 3, Aftertouch Takedowns tended to be difficult because the camera only moved to face oncoming rivals whenever they approached, and due to the slow-motion of Impact Time, the rivals could often pass the player before the camera saw them in time. This was fixed in Revenge, where the act of activating Impact Time flipped the camera up the road in an instant so the player could spot rivals, and this was carried over into Dominator. Signature Takedown The Signature Takedown is featured in Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge. A Signature Takedown occurs when a player performs a Takedown on an opponent into a certain environmental item. These items can vary from taxis to pillars to natural environments. Usually, on a certain track, there are multiple places to perform Signature Takedowns. In Burnout Dominator this was replaced with Signature Shortcuts. :Main Article: Signature Takedown Chaser Takedown A Chaser Takedown is a Takedown that is unique to the Online Marked Man mode in Burnout Paradise. Every round, a random player is selected to be the Marked Man, who needs to survive for two minutes while the other players try to take him down as Chasers. However, if the Marked Man scores a Takedown on a Chaser they score a Chaser Takedown, and earning them a bonus point for each one. This can be a very effective way to get in the lead in Online Marked Man, however it also seriously risks you not surviving the round at all. Takedown Into Each Other Firstly introduced in Burnout Paradise's Freeburn Online, this takedown can be performed by crashing into another player. While both players scored a Takedown, neither players survives, since their vehicles got taken down at the same time. This might count as "Takedown Into Each Other", despite that it is not within the category. See Also Road Rage Road Rage events in Burnout Paradise focus specifically on getting a minimum number of Takedowns in a limited time. See the main article for more details. Marked Man Marked Man events are the other type of events where the AI are more readily aggressive. Here, the player must drive from one point to a key destination and the main goal is to survive the constant assault of modded, heavily armored pursuit cars (aka Hunter Civilian pursuers). See the main article for more details.